By Gais Nemri
The peace of God is an interesting thing when you think about it, because it surpasses all logical understanding. When a true believer is facing a tragedy in life and is actively in distress by the hurt and pain of it, yet their response is “I don’t understand it, I don’t like it, but I know God does and this is part of his plan”, you know God is at work supernaturally. Any logical person would say they are unstable. However, for the believer it is something that can only be explained by the work of God Himself. It is a supernatural feeling brought on by God the Spirit that brings comfort and peace. To have a sense of peace in life, despite difficult circumstances, can only be explained in that way. Now that doesn’t exclude believers from the hurt and pain that the tragedy brings, it just provides a better approach.
Personally speaking, I may not have faced tragedy that brought me to my knees in that regard, however, I have faced a life of uncertainty that has caused me a lot of heartache. Fear, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts are things I wish upon no one, and yet, that was the fact of life for me when I was an unbeliever.
If you had asked me at the time, I would have probably told you I was a believer, despite all the evidence to the contrary. I had more religion than a relationship with Jesus in those days, and I relied on the rituals of saying a prayer and being baptized.
During those dark times in my life, I masked it with drugs and alcohol, while justifying that lifestyle by saying, I am young and just having fun, something I’m sure you could relate to as well. For a long time, I couldn’t understand why I felt those feelings. I never knew how to deal with them either. Thankfully, when God opened my eyes to the sinful life I was living, it began to make sense. I did those things because I was running away from His calling on my life. God called me to follow Him and live a life that was God honoring, yet I chose to live a life that was following my own heart’s desires.
I am beyond thankful to the Lord for revealing that to me because it has allowed me more joy than any drug or drink could ever provide. When we truly commit ourselves to the things of God and His sovereign plan, we begin to understand that we truly aren’t in control and we are on His time, not ours. It leads to almost a euphoric feeling better than any drug could produce. To understand that the Creator of the universe chose you to live in eternal relationship with Him should free you from the worry of this world. If His plan is to redeem us from sin, why wouldn’t His plan include caring for us in every way? In Matthew 6:25-26, Jesus addresses it Himself,“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?.” If God cares and provides for the birds of the air, why wouldn’t His peace and care do much more for us? Allow the God of peace to be Lord of your life and give you rest from a life that is slowly killing you.